Monday, November 23, 2015

Heading into the Kickoff Show, there was no match set so getting one was a surprise. We got a traditional Survivor Series match that turned out to be really random. Bo Dallas, the Miz and the Cosmic Wasteland took on the Dudley Boyz, Neville, Titus O'Neil and the returning Goldust. It was pretty great to see Goldust return but this was so odd. Why just Titus and no Darren? Why Bo Dallas? The match itself was also strangely booked. The Ascension was eliminated by non finishers and then Neville was sent packing. I wouldn't be upset about Neville going except that he was the only one from his team. Why not just go the clean sweep route? The match itself was kind of just there and then the booking hurt the score. This would be the longest match of the evening. **

To open the actual official Pay-Per-View broadcast, we got the first Semi-Finals match of the WWE World Heavyweight Title Tournament. Alberto Del Rio took on Roman Reigns. They got fourteen minutes and worked a solid match. Del Rio targeted the arm, which was smart. Reigns still has not had a bad match outside of the Royal Rumble all year on PPV. They did well to try an get fans to buy into other possible finishes, but it was clear that we all knew how this one would end. Reigns won with the Spear in a rather good but predictable match. I would like to see these two get another match with maybe some more time. ***1/4 The second Semi-Final match followed as Dean Ambrose took on IC Champ Kevin Owens. This was the only match on the card that I was excited for ahead of time. They had a match with almost no down time since it seems like they knew they wouldn't get much time. Owens did do some chinlocks but kept it entertaining with trash talk. Kevin Owens is just fantastic at playing the dick heel. This was a really enjoyable eleven minute match with both guys playing to their strengths. The best thing about this was the finishing stretch, which was among my favorites in WWE all year long. Ambrose advanced following the Dirty Deeds, setting the stage for the all Shield Finals. This would prove to be your match of the night. ***3/4

Another random, unannounced Traditional Survivor Series tag team match was up next. New Day teamed with King Barrett and Sheamus against Ryback, the Usos and the Lucha Dragons. This was so much fun when New Day was involved. Barrett and Sheamus both got into the New Day antics, especially Barrett. There were a few eliminations and then Big E was eliminated. The rest of New Day, including Xavier Woods' incredible hairdo, decided Big E needed help and they left with him. There was no formal countout or anything like that. This left Sheamus alone with Ryback, Kalisto and Jey Uso. I would have had Sheamus survive here since he is Mr. Money in the Bank, to give him a strong showing. Instead, he just lost without eliminating anyone. The match went seventeen minutes. **1/2What followed next was a match that was technically good, but honestly made no sense. Paige and Charlotte were having an okay feud until this past Monday when the Reid Flair stuff was brought up. That was the company trying to make this "personal" and "bitter", which commentary tried to sell so strongly. That would be fine if the match sold that too. Instead, they went out and had a mostly regular outing. If this was so personal, they would have wanted to fight, not wrestle. Randomly they would throw in spots where they got stiffer and acted like they hated each other, but other times it seems like they forgot the kind of match they were supposed to have. Also, Paige just tapped out after 14 minutes. I would have done a DQ finish or something to set up the rematch. **1/2

The feud between Dolph Ziggler and Tyler Breeze has been an incredibly uninteresting one. This would be their first official one on one meeting. Despite the feud, I figured both men were capable of having a good contest. Unfortunately, they were given the least amount of time of anyone on the entire show. Their styles worked well and they had a ton of flash pin attempts. This didn't really seem to get going though. They went back and forth with nothing of real note happening and then the finish came with a Tyler win. It was too short for anything good to go down. Very disappointing. **1/4 In honor of the 25th anniversary of the Undertaker's debut, he was given a special entrance. It featured a giant casket that opened and showed images of his different looks throughout his career. That was where the good thing about this ended. Look, I'm sure Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper marked out at getting to work with Undertaker on his anniversary. However, this was done all wrong. Undertaker and Kane absolutely dominated and the entire Wyatt Family looked like chumps for ten minutes. I get that Undertaker had to win, but I wish it didn't come at the expense of the Wyatt Family again. Why should I ever take them seriously? They got bitched out by Kane and Undertaker for the past few weeks, with this topping everything. But whatever, people got their Undertaker moment so who cares about the current crop of stars right? **

The battle of former Shield members completed the WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament. I was hoping for an awesome match and it started that way. Dean Ambrose worked the arm since Alberto Del Rio already did that earlier. He told Roman Reigns "I'll break your arm brother". That was a nice little tidbit that added to this because it showed that, while friends, the title means more. Then the match was quickly wrapped. It went only nine minutes, which disappointed me greatly. I mean, what they did with the time they had was really solid so I don't give the match a bad score, but this could have been SO much more. Reigns won with the Spear and had his big moment, which Dean congratulated him on. ***Roman Reigns got the big confetti celebration and then Triple H made his way to the ring. He raised Roman's hand and offered a handshake. Reigns declined and then speared him. He turned around right into the Brogue Kick. Sheamus cashed in Money in the Bank and hit a second Brogue Kick to become the brand new WWE Champion. He was then congratulated by Triple H, who left with him. Roman Reigns left to the back crying to close the show. I actually like Sheamus but with ratings in the toilet, I don't think putting the belt on a guy who has never been a draw was the right move. Also, Reigns' first big title win was pretty wasted. I assume he wins the Rumble and gets another shot at a WrestleMania moment next year.Overall, this continued the trend of WWE Pay-Per-Views this year. They have ranged from pretty bad (Royal Rumble) to very good (WrestleMania) at best and everything else has been average. This was something I'd consider slightly below average. There were three solid matches (with Dean and Owens being best), while everything else was mediocre. Not a bad way to spend three hours, but not really good either. 5/10.